Special Project 3
by Ty2
Summary: The long awaited SP3 is now here. Please review and please be patient with me.
1. Default Chapter

Morning  
  
I awoke to a soft light that found it's way through the dark curtains of the window. I reached up to rub the sleep out of my eyes. Zack continued to sleep soundly, chest rising and falling peacefully. All of a sudden, the world began to shake violently. I braced myself with my arms, eyes snapping to the small figure jumping up and down on the bed.  
"Hey, cut it out." I whispered softly to the child who continued to glare at Zack who still lay with his eyes closed.   
The child bounced himself into my arms.   
"Quiet sweetheart, daddy is sleeping." I informed the boy, stroking his dirty blonde hair.  
"I don't think daddy is asleep." the boy said, seriously.  
"Am, too." came Zack's voice.  
"Are not." argued the little boy.  
"Am, too…"  
"Boys." I said sharply.  
"Sorry, mommy." they said as one.  
Zack sat up on the bed and leaned in to give me a kiss.  
"Ewww!" the boy named Ben exclaimed at the sight.  
Zack reached down and threw the sheets over Ben's head, reinitiating the kiss.  
"Morning, mommy." Zack murmured.  
I sighed happily and laughed as Ben struggled to dig his way out of the sheets. Ben was almost two years old now. His features mainly originated from Zack except for his green eyes.   
"Ok, soldier," Zack said smiling, "Let's see that salute."  
Ben stood up quickly, giving his salute to Zack.  
"Look, honey, finally someone who listens to you." I teased.  
"Ha ha." Zack said dryly, "Besides, we all know who's in charge, right?"   
Zack raised an eyebrow in expectation.   
"Oh, of course." I mocked.  
"That's right," Zack agreed, apparently not realizing my sarcasm, "Now, what day is today?"  
Ben's eyes lit up.  
"I know, I know! It's two days until Christmas!" he cried.  
"Christmas? No, it couldn't be Christmas." Zack lied.  
"Yeah huh! And Uncle Krit, and Auntie Syl, and Auntie Ty, and Uncle Zane, and Auntie Max are coming!" Ben counted the names off with his fingers.   
Uh oh. I hadn't exactly told Zack that they were all spending Christmas with us yet. I just kinda planned on surprising him. That way he couldn't argue.   
"No, they aren't, little guy." Zack said soothingly.  
"Yeah, they are. Mommy said so on the phone." Ben pointed at me accusingly.  
Zack turned and looked at me sharply.  
"Did she?" Zack said tightly, "And when did mommy plan on telling daddy?"   
"Um, honey, Krit, Ty, Zane, Syl, Max, Logan, Jondy, and possibly Jo, Derrick, and Lani, are visiting for Christmas." I said.   
Zack sighed and fell back on to the bed.   
"How many days?"   
I laughed.  
"Two days. Two days, honey." I assured him.   
Ben apparently got bored and ran out of the room, I heard the TV switch on.  
"Uncle Logan's on TV." he shouted excitedly.  
Zack shut his eyes and cringed.   
I lay my head on his chest. "Please."  
"Fine," he didn't open his eyes, "Two days."  
"Thank you, daddy." I smiled.  
"Mommy!" I heard Ben bellow loudly, "Mommy!"  
I sighed and closed my eyes. Zack nudged me, eyes still shut.   
"Yeah, I'm going."   
I stood slowly and followed my son's voice into the living room, smiling the entire way.  
***  
  
  
"Kill it!" Krit yelled, nearly knocking into me as he rushed around the room.   
Blonde hair flung around as Syl turned to quickly escape the wrath of Krit. She laughed as he issued his attack. Syl held up the small Koosh ball. Krit lunged forward to no avail. I tried hard to keep what I hoped was an aggravated look on my face.  
"Children!" I yelled over the 'Chaos Twins'. Krit and Syl froze, "Save the Koosh ball wars for Zack and Cade's house."  
The front door opened. Zane's eyes widened as he entered the room, taking in the tragic state of the apartment.  
"Not God again." Zane sighed.   
I laughed at the name that Krit and Syl had fondly come to refer to the ball as.  
Syl gave Zane a quick kiss (while standing on tip toes).  
"Hi, hot stuff." Syl said, smiling.  
"Oh, god." Krit groaned.  
He picked up the Koosh and beaned Syl in the back of the head with it.  
"Ow!" Syl cried, more in surprise than actual pain.  
She snatched the Koosh and chucked it at Krit, but he ducked. The Koosh ball connected with my stomach instead.  
"Hey!" I protested, throwing it back at Syl.  
Syl dodged and the Koosh hit Zane.  
"Koosh Wars continues!" Krit cried from behind the couch.  
"I don't think so." Zane said, putting the Koosh behind his back, "Those always end badly. Usually with me taking the fall for both of you. And I don't think that Ty wants to get kicked out of the apartment today."  
"Thank you, Zane." I smiled.  
"You suck, Zane." Krit said, sticking out his tongue.  
"Party-pooper." Syl added with a pout.  
"Sorry, sweetheart." Zane said, leaning down to kiss Syl.  
Syl used the opportunity to reach around him and try to steal the Koosh. But Zane had expected that and tossed the Koosh to me. I caught it and back away from Krit.  
"You stay back, Krit. No more." I said warningly.  
Krit approached slowly with a dangerous look in his eyes.  
"Krit..." I said, still backing away, "We have to get ready to go to Zack and Cade's. We really don't have time for this."  
Krit just grinned. I glanced quickly over at Syl and Zane and in that moment, Krit pounced. I yelped as I was knocked to the ground. Krit tickled me to try to get me to let go of the Koosh, but I wasn't letting in. I struggled and finally got free, jumping to my feet and running into the bedroom. Before Krit could catch up, I chucked the Koosh into the closet where Krit would never find it.  
"Where's God, Ty?" Krit demanded.  
"In heaven?" I suggested innocently.  
"Very funny." Krit said sarcastically.  
"It's time to pack and get going, anyway." I insisted.  
"Okay, okay." Krit said, rolling his eyes. He smiled at me, "We can play at Zack and Cade's house. I bet Baby Ben will play with us."  
"I bet he will." I agreed, giving Krit a quick kiss in reconciliation, "You are a troublemaker."  
"But you love me." Krit pointed out.  
"Pure coincidence." I teased, "Now help me pack."  
***  
  
"Zack! I'm going to the store!" I called as I headed out the door.  
"Mommy, I wanna come!" Baby Ben cried.  
"Ben's coming, too!" I added.  
"Yay!" Baby Ben said happily, following me out the door.  
Baby Ben and I hopped into the black jeep that Zack had acquired for us. I had never bothered to ask how.  
"Mommy, can I drive?" Baby Ben asked.  
"Uh...I don't think so." I smiled indulgently and buckled him into the passenger side.  
"Can I have a soda?" Baby Ben asked as I started the car.  
"Maybe."  
"Can I have some chips?"   
"Maybe."  
"Can I have an assault rifle?"  
"Maybe...wait a minute. Have you been talking with daddy again?"  
"Yes."  
"I'll yell at daddy later." I said.  
"Oooh, daddy's in trouble." Baby Ben said happily.  
"Daddy's always in trouble. Cause who's really the C.O.?" I prompted.  
"You, mommy, sir, ma'am, sir." Baby Ben recited with a small salute.  
I grinned and turned my attention to the road.  
***  
  
Zane gave the wrench one last pull before sliding out from under the car.  
"Try her now." he called up to Krit.  
Krit started the car and the engine purred. Zane grinned in triumph as he stood up. He took a swipe at the grease on his face, but only managed to make it worse.  
"Told you I could make her run." Zane said.  
Krit spread his hands helplessly.  
"I never said you couldn't." he replied.  
"What's with calling the car a 'her'?" I interjected.  
Zane shrugged.  
"I don't know. I just do." Zane took a step back and surveyed the old jeep critically, "A new paint job and it'll be good as new."  
Krit hopped out of the driver's seat and gave Zane a pat on the back.  
"Syl will love it." he assured him.  
"I hope so." Zane said, making a face.  
"She will. I promise. Now, come on. I'm starving." Krit said, leading the way out of their hiding place for Syl's present- a dilapidated old building.  
"So what are you getting Ty, anyway?" Zane asked, in a loud stage-whisper.  
He was only doing it to annoy me because he knew how badly I wanted to know what Krit was going to give me for Christmas. I wouldn't care except that Krit had been teasing me about it. I didn't even expect a present, but Krit apparently had other plans.  
"Yeah, what'd you get me? What'd you get me?" I pressed.  
"See, that's the thing. I don't know what to get her." Krit said, grinning.  
"Get who what?"  
Krit and Zane both jumped and spun around to see Syl approaching them.  
"Stalker." Krit accused.  
"That doesn't answer my question." she replied, "What are you guys doing out here anyway?"  
"Nothing!" they both chimed.  
Syl frowned and looked at them suspiciously. Zane quickly distracted her with a kiss and began leading her away from the building. He signaled behind his back to Krit and me that we had to move the car. Krit sighed and grumbled irritably, but nodded. He waited until they were long gone before heading back inside. I followed.  
"Stupid Syl." he complained as he started the car, "Has to be snooping around. Doesn't she know that curiosity killed the cat? So now I have to go find a new hiding place for this thing. Man."  
"We don't really need to find a new hiding place. We could drive it to Cade and Zack's and Zane and Syl can take Zane's jeep. We'll tell Syl that you ...uh... 'found' an mode of transportation for us." I suggested.  
"Okay." Krit agreed, "The tricky part's gonna be getting our stuff here. We'll have to do that tonight when Syl's asleep."  
"It's a date." I agreed, "We should get started early tomorrow, anyway. We've got quite a drive ahead of us."  
"I know. All the way to California." Krit said sarcastically, "It's only a couple states away, Ty."  
"Still a long drive. I mean, I'm gonna be stuck with you the whole way." I made a face.  
"You're so funny." Krit said sarcastically, leaning in to kiss the look off my face.  
"Humor runs in my family." I returned.  
Krit laughed and nodded.  
"Okay, well we should move the car for tonight at least. Just in case Syl decides to do more snooping." Krit said, pulling out of the building.  
"Okay." I agreed.  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Wow, did that take a long time. Thanks for sticking with us, SP Fans! So here's the first chapter. Cade moved to a different city, so I'm trying to do this on my own. Please be patient with me and feel free to give me any advice.  
  
Ty 


	2. Kidnapped

Kidnapped  
  
I sighed with relief when we finally reached the checkout line. Ben had been his normal self. He acted so shy around people he didn't know, but would always pipe up when he saw something he wanted. But that hadn't been what bothered me. What bothered me was the weird looks I kept getting from the people in the store. I couldn't figure out what I had done to deserve them and it was really creeping me out. I took Ben's hand and pushed the shopping cart one-handed towards the door, all the while feeling the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.  
I was expecting to feel better once we got outside, but instead I felt worse. My instincts kept telling me that something was wrong, but I could find no reason for it.  
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Ben asked, sensing my apprehension.  
"Nothing." I said tightly, steering towards the car.  
Instinctively I had parked in the far corner of the parking lot, just passed the small alley between the grocery store and the store next to it.  
Suddenly, I felt Ben's hand yanked free of mine. My gaze snapped to where he had been, but he wasn't there anymore. I looked up and saw the people from the grocery store that had given me the creeps. And they had my son.  
"Who are you people?" I demanded before charging after Ben.  
One of them intercepted me and I was shocked into stillness for a moment and how fast he was. And then I was shocked at how strong he was as he punched me and sent me reeling back into a wall. Where they X5? Had Manticore tracked me down, sent X5's after me? Three more joined my first attacker and I was forced to concentrate on fighting them. But as I fought, I noticed that they didn't have barcodes. Then, what the hell where these people? And what did they want with my son? Where were they taking him? I screamed in fury as I caught sight of them dragging Ben away. I blindly attacked, desperately trying to reach my child. I took out two of them before more took their place. There were too many of them. I just couldn't think. I was just too worried about Ben. The next thing I knew, everything was dark.  
***  
  
Syl, Krit, Zane and I entered our usual night-spot, The Black Cat. It wasn't a great place, but it was nice. They had a couple pool tables, they played good music, and they served good drinks. Occasionally, they even had live entertainment. And they always had people for Syl to hustle at the pool tables.  
"The usual, Dave." Krit said, walking up to the bar.  
"A pitcher and a root beer." the bartender nodded.  
Krit smiled and leaned his back against the bar, surveying the room. It was a habit, but one that he figured couldn't hurt what with a secret government agency looking for him.  
"Here you go." the bartender said, sliding a tray across the bar to him.  
Krit took the tray over to the table closest to the pool tables and set it down. Syl was already leaning against one of the tables, trying to coax someone into playing with her. It didn't take long. Syl didn't look very intimidating; she was a short, innocent-looking blonde which worked well to her advantage. Zane stood nearby, watching her protectively while talking to me at the same time. Krit joined us, wrapping an arm around my waist.  
"Come on. One more. Double or nothing." Syl said to her current customer, "Let a girl have a second chance."  
"No one can resist that face." Zane said with a sigh as Syl's customer nodded.  
Krit rolled his eyes.  
"Zane, when you fall..."  
"I fall hard." Zane finished, "I know. I know."  
"Don't pick on Zane." I protested.  
"Have I mentioned that I like her?" Zane asked with a grin.  
"Oh, shut up." Krit said. He turned his attention to me, "And you, you're supposed to be on my side."  
With that he kissed me.  
"Cheater." I accused with a smile.  
I pulled away from him to retrieve my root beer. I poured beer into the three empty glasses and handed one to Krit and one to Zane.  
"Hey, Syl! You ready for a beer?" I called.  
"Always." Syl returned, a look of heavy concentration on her face as she lined up her shot.  
She sunk the eight ball with the perfect look of absolute surprise on her face.  
"Oh, my god! I actually won!" she said, flashing a brilliant smile at the guy who had lost.  
The guy handed over the money, not even the slightest bit suspicious of being hustled. Syl winked at me behind his back and I had to stifle laughter. I handed Syl her beer.  
"Krit!" Syl called, holding up the extra pool cue.  
Krit rolled his eyes again, knowing he couldn't back down from a challenge from Syl. He handed me his beer and snatched the cue.  
"I break." he announced.  
"Sure." Syl shrugged.  
She signaled to me below the edge of the pool table where Krit couldn't see. I gave her a small smile in acknowledgement. I moved over next to Krit just as he was leaning over to line up his shot. Just as he was about to shoot, I pinched him, making him jump. His shot went wild and missed the break entirely. Syl smiled innocently. Krit glared at both of us.  
"That's cheating, Syl." he accused.  
Syl shrugged, innocent look still plastered on her face.  
"Two can play at that. Zane." Krit called.  
Zane warily joined Krit. Krit whispered to him hurriedly. Zane sighed and nodded. Syl watched him suspiciously as he walked over to her. She cautiously leaned over to shoot. Just before the pool cue connected with the ball, Zane pushed her hair out of the way and blew softly on her barcode. Syl cried out in surprise and jumped, but still managed to break. She sank one ball as opposed to her usual three or four.  
"Not fair, Krit. You know that's my only ticklish spot." Syl frowned.  
"Oops." Krit said sarcastically.  
"Still didn't work." Syl said, lining up her next shot.  
Krit shot Zane a look and he sighed again. Again, just as Syl was shooting, Zane grabbed her butt. Syl actually scratched. Krit grinned.  
"Oh, this is war." Syl declared.  
Krit rolled his eyes and went to line up his shot. I just smiled at Syl and she gestured at me to go ahead with whatever I was planning.  
Krit edged around the table to the other side away from me and gave me a look. I gave him an offended look and tried to look innocent. I edged around the table next to him and immediately began to tickle him viciously. Krit squeaked and jumped. Unfortunately for him, his pool cue accidentally hit the white ball and he lost his turn.  
"You're evil." Krit accused, glaring at me.  
"And you squeak." I replied, sticking my tongue out at him.  
While we were arguing, Syl quickly took her shot, keeping Zane at a distance with her foot which was poised to kick him in the stomach. She sunk her ball and grinned. But when she went to take her next shot, Zane kissed her, making it impossible for her to see what she was doing. She actually managed to hit the ball she was aiming for, but didn't get it anywhere near a pocket. Syl quickly broke out of the kiss and glanced at the table to see what had happened. When she saw what a terrible shot it was, she socked Zane in the stomach.  
"Ow!" Zane protested as the wind was knocked out of him.  
"Sorry, Zane." Krit grimaced.  
He knew how hard Syl punches. He'd mentioned a few occasions when he had found out to me before.  
"Taking one for the team." Zane croaked.  
"The losing team." Syl threw in.  
"Would you shut up so I can shoot?" Krit snapped.  
Playing the same tactic as Zane, I leaned in a nibbled on Krit's ear and kissed his neck. His skin kept twitching and he grumbled as he tried to concentrate. His ball ended up bouncing off the corner of the pocket. Krit sighed heavily in frustration. He quickly turned to me, grabbing my arms, and planted a firm kiss on my lips.  
"Now stay put." he said.  
Syl rolled her eyes and took her shot. Zane did something behind his back, quickly moving in next to Syl and then jumping back again. Syl cried out in surprise, making many people glance our way.  
"That was fricking cold, Zane!" she said as she pulled a piece of ice out of her shirt.  
She threw the ice at Zane who caught it and threw it at Krit. The pool game was forgotten as an all-out ice fight ensued.  
As I tried to shield myself from the ice coming from Krit, I noticed Syl sneaking up behind him. She held a pitcher of beer and looked poised to pour it over Krit. I stifled laughter that would alert him to what she was doing.  
Suddenly, Krit's cell phone rang and we all froze. Krit fished his phone out of his pocket and answered it.  
"Hello? Oh, hi, Zack. What's wrong?" Krit asked.  
He casually began to stroll over to our table. But as he left, he reached behind him and tipped the pitcher backwards, the contents splashing all over Syl. None of us could help it, we burst out laughing. Syl looked astonished and ticked. She gave us all a look of death that transferred to the others in the bar as she made her way to the bathroom. The look made people clear a path for her, but didn't stop the comments or the raucous applause after she was gone.  
But Krit was a part of it. Something was wrong.  
"What was that, Zack? I couldn't hear you. What?! Baby Ben? When? Is Cade okay? Who was it? We'll be right there. You want our help, right? Oh, stop being a jackass and just admit you want our help. See, that wasn't hard. Yeah, I am pushing it. I'm sorry. We'll get your son back, don't worry. Bye."  
Krit's words had caught Zane's attention as well and we both stared at him for an explanation. He shook his head.  
"Someone's kidnapped Baby Ben. They beat up Cade a little and stole the kid. No idea who they are, but they were strong and not Manticore since Cade didn't see any barcodes. Zack needs our help tracking him down and getting him back." he explained.  
Zane and I nodded in unison, our faces set in a determined look. We'd get Baby Ben back, no doubt about it. We just needed to grab Syl.  
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Sorry about the delays, I apologize again. Kai helped me with some ideas in this chapter, so thanks Kai. Cade's busy working on the websites, but she'll be contributing some more soon. Hope you liked this chapter. Please let me know.  
  
Ty 


End file.
